Eco Church is an initiative run by the A Rocha organisation, to facilitate churches, cathedrals and whole dioceses to help the Church of England reach Net Zero by 2030. The Eco Church scheme provides points for making small or large changes on the path to caring more for our environment. And points mean prizes! The first level Award for progress is Bronze, followed by Silver and Gold.Our first Eco Church event will be an Eco Picnic and Nature Count on Sunday 9 June at 3pm, to celebrate Love Your Burial Ground Week 8-16 June. This will include our first Village Citizen Science project - joining Churches Count on Nature 2024. In the same way that we many of us have joined the Big Garden Birdwatch and the Big Butterfly Count in previous years, we invite you to help us survey the wildlife - trees, flowers, insects, animals. We have a number of identification guides in book form for you to use. You can use a pen & paper, or you can record your sightings on the iNaturalist app, which accepts photos and sound recordings, and offers suggestions on identification. All our observations will then be collated and passed on to the National Biodiversity Network atlas. For the younger people, we will have a Fun Bug Hunt with worksheets and we will be building a Bug Hotel.Please bring your own picnic and rug. We will provide a tea, coffee and cake stall. We look forward to welcoming you.To help us keep our associated carbon emissions low for this event, please walk or cycle, if you are able.
On Wednesday 20 March, 30 villagers and one puppy were entertained in Charlton Church Hall for the evening by Jane and Vince Jenkins. We were treated to a large number of fascinating photographs and videos of underwater creatures living around the Philippines, taken by Jane and Vince with specialist cameras and lighting. Our hosts clearly love what they do and gave us a real feel for what it is like to enter the underwater world. They have 70 years of diving experience between them.Many of us were surprised to learn about the Blue Ringed Octopus, featured here, which is only a few inches across but carries enough venom to paralyse 26 humans!Many thanks especially go to Barbara Box for arranging the event, and for providing a wonderful selection of cheeses and wine in the interval.And finally, thank you to everyone who came to the talk, enabling us to raise £260 towards Church funds.
The recent heavy rains on already waterlogged ground, has led to some localised flooding in many areas around Salisbury, and Charlton All Saints in particular. The front of the churchyard is currently more pond than grass, but the rear churchyard is on higher ground and is accessible via the Church Lane side entrance. The Church main door and vestry door have not been affected by the flooding, although the ground is wet.Communion on Palm Sunday 24 March at 9.30am will go ahead as usual. Wellies are welcome!
On Remembrance Sunday 12 November 2023, just over 100 years after it was built, parishioners from Charlton, Britford, Odstock, Nunton & Bodenham gathered at the restored War Memorial for the Service of Remembrance and of ReDedication.The Rector, the Revd Dr Ruth Howlett-Shipley, led the service. The names of the Fallen from our each of our villages were read out and a trumpeter played the Last Post and the Reveille. The service continued inside the Church.There was a small display at the back of the Church, exploring the life of William John Frampton, one of the 17 Charlton men and boys who went to fight in the Great War, and never returned.We will remember them.
